Summary: “By age sixteen, Rhine Ellery has four years left to live. She can thank modern science for this genetic time bomb. A botched effort to create a perfect race has left all males with a lifespan of 25 years, and females with a lifespan of 20 years. Geneticists are seeking a miracle antidote to restore the human race, desperate orphans crowd the population, crime and poverty have skyrocketed, and young girls are being kidnapped and sold as polygamous brides to bear more children. When Rhine is kidnapped and sold as a bride, she vows to do all she can to escape. Her husband, Linden, is hopelessly in love with her, and Rhine can’t bring herself to hate him as much as she’d like to. He opens her to a magical world of wealth and illusion she never thought existed, and it almost makes it possible to ignore the clock ticking away her short life. But Rhine quickly learns that not everything in her new husband’s strange world is what it seems. Her father-in-law, an eccentric doctor bent on finding the antidote, is hoarding corpses in the basement. Her fellow sister wives are to be trusted one day and feared the next, and Rhine is desperate to communicate to her twin brother that she is safe and alive. Will Rhine be able to escape–before her time runs out?Together with one of Linden’s servants, Gabriel, Rhine attempts to escape just before her seventeenth birthday. But in a world that continues to spiral into anarchy, is there any hope for freedom?”

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Expectation: I expected a lot from this book, there was so much hype around it, yet I didn’t know much about it. I don’t think it disappoints. For being a debut novel, I am impressed.

My Thoughts: I’m just going to start off with this book got me out of my reading funk. I was sitting in my classes waiting to get out to read a few more pages before my next class. This book was tragically beautiful. I loved the characters, they all very much had their own personalities. The writing just made me feel for Rhine and her sister wives. Not so much for Cecily though, she got on my nerves in the beginning. I loved Jen as well, all throughout the book. I liked Rhine because she never gave up. She was determined no matter what to escape her unwanted “marriage”. The main love interest (or the forces upon interest) was okay, he was kind of a bizarre character. He does seem a bit naive in a way though. Now for the actual love interest, I enjoyed him. It’s an almost impossible friendship that could be more…I can’t wait to find out what happens in Fever.

The plot was interesting, I feel like it could have been a bit more extravagant but it was still nicely done. The world building I could understand and I enjoyed. I had never read a book with polygamy so it was something new. The cover is nice, normally I don’t like covers with just pretty models but the designing makes the book. The pacing was also nice, I almost couldn’t put it down. There wasn’t really a time where I was bored or it was slow. The ending left with a cliffhanger, naturally. I think it was nicely done and a good spot to leave off. Not that I’m happy about the cliffhanger. I mean I want to read fever right now! But alas, I shall have to wait. But look forward to fever in the future. I am giving Wither 4 stars. Overall I could barely put the book down. As I said I look forward to reading fever and will definitely be continuing the series.

“Lauren DeStefano (pronounced: de STEFF ano) graduated Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, CT in 2007. Her debut novel, WITHER, the first in The Chemical Garden Trilogy, published by Simon & Schuster BFYR, is out now.” – GoodReads

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“In My Mailbox” is a meme hosted by Kristi @ The Story Siren that allows book bloggers to share the books they’ve received in the past week. They can be your own purchases, borrowed from friends, library checkouts, from publishers, won from a contest, etc.

I am going to do a spin off sort of for this Meme, I am going to do it Monthly. So today is November 1, I am going to do my IMM, today for October. I don’t want to overcrowd my blog with Meme’s so I plan to do them monthly instead of weekly.

►City of Ashes & City of GlassBy Cassandra Clare, and I bought these because I haven’t read anything by Clare and I’ve heard so many good reviews and I’m really interested to read her books. These are the 2nd and 3rd books in the Mortal Instruments series.

►Clockwork AngelAnother book by Cassandra Clare, this is the first book in the Infernal Devices series. The prequel series to the Mortal Instruments series.

►Cryer’s CrossWritten by Lisa McMann, I’ve read good reviews about this book and I’m excited to read it.►WitherBy Lauren Destefano, a dystopian novel that I am so excited to read. Almost everyone has been talking about this book. I finally got a hold of it and I can’t wait to read it. It will probably be one of the next books I read.►Edgar Allen Poe Complete Tales & PoemsI was so excited to find this book, I had been planning to ask for it as a gift or save for it. I love Poe and plan to read all his works.►The Red QueenBy Margaret Drabble, a friend let me borrow this.►EonBy Alison Goodman. I am excited about this book. It’s the first in the series. I don’t think I’ve ever read a dragon book so I’m interested to read this. And I plan to pick up Eona eventually. ►BirthmarkedWritten by Caragh O’ Brien. I read the first couple chapters in the sample that I downloaded for my nook. I loved the first couple chapters and I hope the rest of the book is just as good. The first book in the series.►RecklessBy Cornelia Funke, I bought this and it sounds interesting. Again a first in a series.

I got a bunch of books this month, although it is my birthday month so that helped. the last three I bought for my birthday the other were bought when I was at a discount store.